When water meets flame
by Grandegubler
Summary: Adriana Evans is sixteen and new to camp half-blood. After finding out her godly parent she finds it difficult to fit in and live up to expectations of her heroic brother. However after forming a friendship with a certain someone in cabin nine, she finds herself being able to love and trust again.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, this is my first Percy Jackson fanfiction. I thought that I'd do a Leo love story seeing as I hate him being the 7th Wheel, and I think he deserves a little happiness in his life. Anyway please enjoy:) I don't own Percy Jackson or any of the characters, except Adriana:) p.s those of you who are waiting for the Life of Stella Reid sequel, it will be shortly coming out.**

**Adriana's POV.**

My lungs were burning but I couldn't stop now. I'd come so far. The pine he'd told me about was just up ahead. If I carry on running, I might be able to make it. However if I slow down just a little the chances are I'd be killed.

Sorry maybe I should explain a few things first. My name is Adriana Evans, but call me that and you'll be sorry. My whole life I've been known as Ade and that's the way I like it. I grew up in a rough area in Pittsburg. Although it was just me and my mum, I had a pleasant enough childhood. I wasn't overly popular at school and I am extremely socially awkward, but I had two best friends who stuck with me. Everything was fine until a week ago. I came home and she was dead. Just lying cold, blue and breathless on the floor. My mum was dead. I can't remember the days following. I just remember being at my aunts and realizing that I needed to leave.

My decision was confirmed when a strange man appeared on my balcony one evening. The strange man happened to be Hermes. He told me about the gods and camp half-blood and for some crazy reason, I believed him. He said he couldn't tell me who my godly parent was, but they sent him. All I knew was that I had to go to this camp, it's not like I had a lot to lose. And that's when the monsters found me. So far I'd been travelling in various ways for two days straight. Fighting off many, many monsters with a bracelet. Hermes had said it was a gift from my godly parent, with one flick of my wrist, it turned into a long celestial bronze blade. I barely had time to eat or sleep, not that I could. And now, after everything, I was so close to safety. The only thing standing in my way, was that I was being chased my a Minotaur.

I carried on running as fast as I could. If I held on a little longer then I would make it. The tree was nearing and I let out a breath of relief. But obviously it's me, so something's bound to go wrong. The Minotaur sped up. Knowing that I could no longer hold it back, I faced it. It was nearing me and I instantly pulled out Bertie (yes I named my sword Bertie), and I readied myself to lunge. However, out of nowhere I heard voices from behind me.

"Oi, beef breath, you should tell your friends to learn not to come here." Called out a boy in an orange top and armour. He held a sword similar to mine. He had jet black, messy hair and emerald eyes.

"Beef breath, really seaweed brain?" A girl questioned casually. She had grey eyes and blonde messy hair. The way she was so calm made me think this was something that happened everyday.

"WATCH OUT RANDOM GIRL." Someone called out. I was to busy watching the unexpected visitors to concentrate on the Minotaur. I didn't see who told me to watch out, as I was flung across the forest and everything went black.

* * *

I woke up to a throbbing headache. My head was pounding and I didn't want to move. But knowing Aunt Sarah, she'd have me out of bed soon.

"Two minutes." I mumbled, with my eyes still firmly shut.

"She's alive." Came a voice. My eyes instantly shot open. I was sitting in a white bed, surrounded by two teenagers. Memories came flooding back to me and I recognised the blonde haired girl and the black-haired boy. Just remembering this made my head hurt even more.

"Hey, I'm Percy. I'm the dude that saved your life." The black-haired boy smiled.

"Don't listen to him, we all saved your life. Me especially, I'm Annabeth. What's your name?" The blonde haired girl smiled, something about her made me feel like I could trust her.

"Adriana Evans, but um please call me Ade. I-I uh, am I at Camp Half-Blood?" I stammered. I hated not being able to speak to people that easily.

" Yeah you are at Camp Half-Blood. So you know that you're a demigod?" Annabeth asked slightly amazed. I couldn't help but feel relief flush over me. After everything that happened I finally made it. Hermes wasn't just a crazy man and camp Half-Blood was real. For the first time in a while, I felt safe.

"Kind of. This strange man came to my balcony and explained everything to me. Well except who my godly parent is." I replied nervously.

"Do you know who this strange man was?" Percy asked softly.

"Hermes." I said. I could see the slight shock on their faces.

"Well that's not normal. But then again Hermes is always popping up. How old are you?" Percy asked.

"I just turned sixteen." I responded quickly.

"That's definitely not normal. You should have been claimed by now. Have you been attacked by monsters before. Where did you even come from?" Annabeth asked. I didn't want to dwell on my past, so I hesitated slightly before I answered.

"I came from Pittsburg, I've been travelling for just over two days. Everything was normal till last week. Ever since last week the monsters started coming." I replied shakily.

"Did anything big happen last week?" Percy asked. I felt my chest tighten and my eyes began to sting. I couldn't break down here, not now.

"Yeah, uh, my mum died." I replied quietly. The room filled with awkward tension and I began to feel extremely uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry Ade." Annabeth smiled softly. "But that still doesn't explain why you weren't claimed earlier."

"Maybe we should take her to see Chiron." Percy suggested.

"Can't believe you actually came up with something intellectual." Annabeth smirked, earning a light punch from Percy. I instantly knew they were a couple. It wasn't hard to tell, you could see it in the way they looked at each other.

"You okay to stand?" Percy asked. I nodded and swung my legs over the bed. Slowly, I stood up. The world began to shake and I grabbed the side of the bed. Percy grabbed hold of me to stop me from falling.

"Here drink this, it'll help." Annabeth said passing me a drink. I didn't argue and downed it quickly. My mouth was filled with my mum's signature spag bowl. My whole body filled with warmth and my eyes started stinging again. Once I drank the cup I craved some more.

"It tastes good I know, but it's addictive." Annabeth warned. I lived in a neighbourhood full of Junkies and I didn't want to end up like any of them. I put the cup down and began to stand again. For some reason I felt better straight away. I followed Annabeth and Percy out of what seemed to be the infirmary, and followed them into a rec room. Upon entering I was greeted by a plump man who was happily drinking a diet coke. But the biggest shock was to see a man with a horses body.

"Great I'm delusional." I muttered. Percy snickered before Annabeth nudged him.

"Don't worry child, I'm quite real. I'm a centaur, I'm Chiron. Who may you be?" Chiron asked. His voice was gentle and I couldn't imagine him angry.

"Adriana Evans, but please call me Ade." I replied.

"Adriana, what a beautiful name. I take it that Percy and Annabeth have filled you in." He smiled.

"A little." I replied.

"Chiron, Hermes visited her and told her to come to camp. Her father sent him. She's sixteen as well and she's never been attacked by monsters, until last week." Annabeth reported.

"Interesting. Someone's obviously not abiding by their promise." Chiron murmured.

"What promise are you talking about?" I asked quietly.

"The gods promised to claim all their children by the time they are thirteen." Percy answered. For some reason I felt extremely unwanted, my own father didn't even want to claim me.

"Well there's obviously a reason, in the meantime do you mind if I ask a few questions? It might help us work out who your godly parent is." Chiron said softly.

"Sure, um fire away." I said, slightly nervous what was going to come.

"Let's see have you ever talked people into doing things, like giving you things they weren't suppose to?" Percy asked.

"Definitely not." I responded quickly. I barely talk to new people, let alone talk people into giving me things.

"Do you like learning things, or does architecture interest you?" Annabeth asked hopefully.

"I'm dyslexic, I find it hard to sit still and concentrate, let alone learn things." I replied slightly apologetically.

"Are you handy with Mechanics? A good fighter? Interested in healing or music? Can you fly? Can you feel death? Are you good with plants? Can you control water?" Percy asked quickly.

"I break things a lot. I can fight but hardly army level. I can't sing, or heal. I don't think I can fly, I haven't really tried. I don't think I can feel death, I wasn't aware people can. I never had a garden. And I've never been near water." I replied, feeling very overwhelmed.

"Well that rules out Hephaestus, Apollo, Zeus, Hades and Demeter. She's not one of yours Mr.D?" Percy asked.

"I'd of claimed her if she was mine Johnson. None of that cheek or I'll turn you into a dolphin, and I mean it this time." Mr.D threatened. I assumed that he was Dionysus.

"She's not from Athena or Aphrodite, and I doubt Hermes would talk to her without claiming her." Chiron summed up.

"So that leaves, Ares or Poseidon. I doubt Hermes would have done the favour of talking to her if it was a minor God." Annabeth added.

"She's got the hair and eyes to be a child of Poseidon." Chiron commented. I suddenly felt self-conscious when everyone started staring at me.

"Yeah but you can't swim." Percy said, looking at me slightly funny.

"My, my mum wouldn't let me learn. She said I'd never need to know." I replied.

"How'd you like to-" Percy started, before he gaped at me. Soon Annabeth joined in along with Chiron and Mr.D. I looked up to see a glowing green trident above my head.

"The cheeky bugger." Mr.D said rolling his eyes.

"At last I've got a normal sibling." Percy smiled.

"All hail Adriana Evans, daughter of Poseidon." Chiron bowed, followed by the rest of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone, so this is the second chapter! Thanks for reviewing and viewing, please stay with this story, I have a lot planned:)**

"Well now we know who your parent is, I'm sure I can assume that Percy and Annabeth will show you around camp." Chiron smiled warmly.

"Sure, ladies first." Percy bowed. Annabeth rolled her eyes and led the way out of the room. I followed Percy and Annabeth down the hallway and out of the house.

"This is the big house, you don't really need to come here unless summoned." Percy laughed. I couldn't help but giggle as well.  
"Sorry, I forgot to ask, did you kill that Minotaur?" I asked, I was stupid not to of asked earlier. They saved my life and I was rude enough not to ask if everyone was alright.

"That Minotaur was nothing, we've seen far worse. Besides it wasn't just me and Annabeth. After you blacked out Leo, Nico, Hazel, Frank, Piper and Jason came." Percy answered smoothly. I couldn't help but feel relieved that no one got hurt saving my skin. We continued to walk and soon I saw lots of other campers. A few smiled at me, others looked interested in me. Annabeth and Percy showed me around the volleyball court, the arts and crafts centre, the amphitheatre, the Mess hall, the armoury, the stables (I especially liked the pegasi, blackjack in particular), the arena, the rock climbing wall and last but not least, the cabins. All the cabins were pretty amazing in their own unique way.

"There used to be only 12 cabins, but after the war, eight more were built for the minor gods." Annabeth informed me. I was about to reply when a boy came rushing out of the shower block screaming.

"VALDEZ I SWEAR TO GOD WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU." He shouted. I would have been slightly scared if it wasn't for the fact that he was wearing a superman top and red leggings.

"Hey Jason, nice look." Percy said in hysterics.

"Shut-up Jackson and just tell me where Leo is." Jason demanded.

"We haven't seen him. We've been showing Ade around. Ade if you didn't know this is Jason, Jason this is Ade, the girl we saved earlier today." Annabeth smiled.

"Uh, sorry. I-I uh don't usually dress like this but Leo burnt my clothes and left me with these. It was wearing this or nothing." He said extremely embarrassed.

"I think it suits you." I replied. I don't know where it came from but for some reason everyone at this camp made me feel comfortable.

"Well thank-you." He smiled. "So have you been claimed yet?"

"Jason, please meet my new half-sister." Percy smiled proudly. It felt nice to feel so welcomed.

"The gods really didn't take any notice of the rules did they." Jason laughed.

"Guess not. Ade just after world war two a prophecy was made, saying that a child of the big three would decide the fate of Olympus, when they were sixteen. They decided to make a pact not to have anymore children, but it didn't really work. Hades had Nico and Bianca Di Angelo. They were kept in this hotel where time stops and were only let out a couple of years ago. But Bianca died on a quest. Zeus had Thalia Grace, Jason's sister, she's a hunter of Artemis, so she stopped ageing and never turned sixteen. As for Jason, he was born when Zeus was in his Roman form, Jupiter, so we're not sure if the Roman side of the gods made the same pact. Then Poseidon had me, and now I guess you." Percy explained.

"Well I guess I'm not suppose to have been born."

"Well at least you know that for sure, I'm always going to live my life in uncertainty." Jason joked, causing us to laugh.

"My gods Jason! What are you wearing?" Came a girl who ran over.

"Leo burnt my clothes. You haven't seen him have you?" Jason asked.

"No one knows where Leo wonders off to. And I'm glad to see you're alright, I'm Piper by the way." Piper said kindly.

"I'm Ade, and thanks for the whole life saving thing." I smiled back.

"No problem. It was nothing." Piper smiled. Again I was about to reply when I was interrupted by another scream. This time a Chinese boy came running out of the shower block. Again I would have been scared if it wasn't for the fact that he was dressed in a panda onesie.

"VALDEZ." He shouted, storming over to us. I was already getting the feeling that this Leo was a troublemaker. Everyone started laughing and I couldn't help but join in.

"Nice outfit Frank." Percy laughed.

"Stop it you guys, it's not funny. Jason you look like a fool to." Frank said extremely red in the face.

"Don't worry Frank we can kill Leo together." Jason laughed.

"Why didn't you just turn into an actual panda?" Annabeth asked laughing.

"Because then I wouldn't have any clothes on when I get back to my cabin. Clarisse is in there, and I think she could do without me wondering in naked." Frank answered bright red. This just caused us to laugh even more.

"Why is everyone screaming?" A girl with dark hair and golden eyes asked. She looked at Jason and Frank and a smile spread across her face.

"Frank you look so cute." She smiled.

"Don't even go there Hazel. Have you seen Leo?" Frank asked.

"Nope sorry, I've been in my cabin with Nico." She shrugged. "You're the girl from earlier." She smiled pointing at me.

"Frank, Hazel, this is Ade my half-sister." Percy smiled.

"Great another one." Came a boy with dark curly hair, and an impish grin.

"LEO!" Frank and Jason screamed turning around.

"Hey guys, nice outfits." He laughed.

"Don't even go there." Frank shouted.

"What it wasn't me and you don't have a shred of evidence to prove it was." Leo replied.

"Leo you burnt your initials into my clothes." Jason deadpanned, causing us all to laugh.

"I gotta go." He said spinning around. Suddenly Frank disappeared and changed into a Great Dane. I was too shocked to speak.

"I think I hit my head." I muttered.

"No he does that." Hazel said reassuringly. The Great Dane pounced at Leo and tackled him to the floor.

"Ow Frank, get off me." Leo moaned. Frank got off Leo and changed into his human form.

"You're not going anywhere Valdez." Frank replied.

"Gotta agree with him on this one mate." Jason said pinning Leo to the floor.

"Let me go. You can't keep me here! I'll tell on you." Leo groaned. It was a funny sight to watch.

"Who to? Mr.D." Jason laughed.

"You going to tell your mommy on us." Frank added. Every gasped slightly and I could tell that Frank went to far. All the humour escaped from Leo's eyes and they filled with sadness.

"Leo I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. It just slipped out." Frank said extremely apologetically. Jason let his foot off Leo. Leo stood up and brushed himself off. When he looked up his usual grin was planted on his face and the sadness in his eyes disappeared.

"It's fine Zhang. I, uh, I need to go see Festus." Leo said quickly excusing himself. He practically ran towards the woods.

"Well done Frank, you really did it that time." Hazel said angrily.

"I said I was sorry. I honestly didn't mean it. Gods I feel awful." Frank said sadly. He looked like he was going to burst into tears.

"We know Frank, but just let him cool off a bit okay? He'll come round." Piper assured.

"Right I'm going to go show Ade to her cabin. Great job in giving off a good first impression guys." Percy sighed. He walked off and I followed him. He stopped outside of a medium-sized cabin. It's walls were encrusted with seashells and coral, and it had a trident hanging above the door.

"Welcome to cabin 3. Your new home." Percy smiled. He opened the door and I followed him inside. Six bunks were spread evenly across the cabin. The whole cabin smelt of the sea and I even thought I could feel a breeze. In the corner of the room was a fountain which dripped salt water. For some reason I felt like I belonged in this cabin.

"Are you the only son of Poseidon staying here?" I asked, noticing the lack of personal things.

"Kind of. We have a half-brother Tyson who sometimes comes and stays. He's going to love you. But he's half Cyclops. Apart from that our siblings get weird, I mean we're related to a horse." Percy laughed.

"I don't even want to try to think how that happened." I smiled in return. I wondered over to a bunk which already had my stuff on. By stuff I mean a rucksack with a few clothes and valuables in. A pile of camp tops and linen had also been left out for me.

"If you want you could take a shower, then I'll take you to the mess hall for dinner." Percy offered.

"Sounds good." I smiled. I picked up a towel, a clean top and my rucksack and headed to the door.

"Sorry about earlier Ade. I swear they're not normally like that, well most of the time. It's just parents are a soft spot for everyone." Percy said.

"It's fine." I smiled. "Nobody's perfect. And thanks for showing me around, it means a lot."

"Anytime Ade, if you need anything just ask." He replied. I couldn't stop the big smile which spread across my face. I left the cabin and headed towards the showers. The thought of a shower was pleasing seeing as I hadn't had one for days. When I entered the girls block, I was more than happy to see that the showers were in cubicles. After having a long warm shower I felt more relaxed than ever. I dried off and changed into a camp half blood top and a clean pair of jeans. After brushing my hair, I left to go back to my cabin. It was already getting dark. When I got back to the cabin Annabeth, Piper, Jason and a boy who I had never seen before were there.

"Hey Ade, have a nice shower?" Percy asked.

"I did thanks." I smiled.

"Hey I'm Nico, son of Hades." The boy smiled. He had dark hair and dark eyes.

"Hey, thanks for helping save me." I thanked.

"That's me the almighty Nico Di Angelo." Nico smiled.

"Nico you're beginning to sound like Leo." Percy laughed.

"Speaking of Leo, has anyone seen him. He's not come back to his cabin yet." Piper asked, clearly worried.

"I'm sure he's fine, he probably just snuck into his cabin when no-one was looking." Jason said calmly.

"He can't of though, Frank's been waiting outside so he can apologize." Piper sighed.

"Pipes he'll be fine, he's probably working on something at Bunker nine and just lost track of time." Jason reassured. A loud noise sounded which Percy and Annabeth told me was dinner.

"Great, I'm starving." Nico smiled. I thought he was going to follow us out of the door but instead he disappeared into thin air.

"Okay, please tell me that's normal." I begged, I was done with surprises for today.

"Yeah, he does that a lot. But I doubt it's going to help his hunger." Annabeth smiled, as I followed her out of the door. Annabeth and Piper had to get back to their cabins to lead them to dinner. Seeing as Jason was the only one in his cabin, he just tagged along with me and Percy.

"At last I'll have someone to sit with. I really hated the sit with your cabin members rule." Percy said happily.

"Tell me about it, I look like a right loner." Jason laughed. We carried on joking and laughing all the way to the mess hall. When we finally got their, Jason went off to his table and Percy and I sat at ours. Soon all the other cabins filled in. Chiron made a brief reminder about the campfire tonight, and after giving an offering to Poseidon, I happily dug into my pizza.

"Hungry huh?" Percy asked.

"I haven't had a proper meal in days." I replied a little embarrassed.

"Monsters do that to you, they don't let you eat or sleep. I bet your shattered?"

"Very. I didn't want to sleep in case anything came in the night." I admitted.

"Well you must be a very good fighter, not many demigods would have been able to survive what you've been through." Percy reassured. I'd only met him but he felt like my older brother already.

"Thanks, I had some help from Bertie though." I smiled in return.

"Who's Bertie?" Percy asked extremely confused.

"My sword." I replied a little embarrassed.

"You named your sword Bertie." He laughed. "I've got good old riptide. What does yours turn into when you're not using it?"

"These bracelets." I showed him. Percy seemed fascinated that I was wearing my sword on my wrist. After demolishing my pizza, I followed Percy over to the campfire. When I heard we were having a camp fire, I was a little embarrassed. I thought we'd be singing cheesy songs over a little fire. So, when I saw the huge pink fire in front of me I was shocked.

"It's amazing." I gasped.

"I know, it's pretty impressive." Percy replied. He gestured for me to sit in a group with Piper, Jason, Annabeth, Hazel, Frank, Nico and him. Seeing as they were the only people I knew, I didn't refuse. Soon campers surrounded the fire. The more campers that came, the higher and warmer the flame grew.

"Attention campers." Boomed Chiron's voice causing everyone to hush. "I would like to make a few basic announcements. To start with we have a new arrival at Camp, Adriana Evans, daughter of Poseidon." Nearly the whole camp stared at me and I felt my cheeks burn as hot as the campfire.

"Please make her feel as welcomed as possible. Next I would also like to remind you that tomorrow night is capture the flag" Cheers ran through the crowd when he mentioned this. "And finally, to the camper who has gone around burning people's clothes, as funny as it is, Mr.D says he will turn you into a dolphin if it happens again." Everyone laughed at this knowing that it was Leo. Speaking of Leo where was he? I kind of felt bad for him, what Frank said must have really hit home, as he didn't seem the kind of guy who got offended easily.

I was about to ask Percy, when members of the Apollo cabin started a song. Again it wasn't a cheesy campfire song. After the fifth or sixth song a few campers started to leave. I was also extremely tired, I looked over to Percy to tell him where I was going but the sight I was met with warmed my heart. Annabeth was lying in Percy's lap and they were in deep conversation, Piper and Jason were roasting marshmallows together, Frank was giving Hazel a one-armed hug, and even Nico had a smile on his face. And that's when I saw him. A few rows back sitting in the shadows was Leo. Knowing that they wouldn't notice, I got up and made my way over to him. I don't know why I did it, but there was something about the sadness in his eyes which made me want to give him a hug.

"Hey." I smiled sitting next to him. He was obviously deep in thought as he jumped a little.

"Oh hey, your Ade." He smiled a little.

"Yep that's me." I replied. God I was so awkward.

"So what brings you over to the land of Leo?" He asked. His usual grin reappeared on his face.

"Just thought I'd say hi. I didn't really get the chance to meet you earlier." I stupidly said.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that." He replied. Man I was such an idiot. I shouldn't have even brought what happened up.

"Don't be. Um, are you okay? Everyone was looking for you?" I asked.

"I'm fine." He replied quickly.

"Well, I'm uh, going to go back to my cabin, I'm shattered." I responded, trying to get away from the awkwardness I created.

"Let me walk you. I bet you don't know the way." Leo offered getting up.

"It's fine you don't have to." I insisted.

"It's no problem." He said already leading the way.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"So what brought you to camp half blood?" He asked as we walked through the night.

"Monsters." I laughed.

"Of course, of course, don't they always. But surely you should have been claimed earlier." He said. I knew what was coming.

"The monsters didn't find me til last week." I tried to reply evenly.

"Why what happened last week?" He asked. There it was, the question I'd been dreading.

"Um, my mum died. I went to live with my aunt, but we don't exactly see eye to eye. I'm not perfect enough for her." I replied quickly. I was surprised at myself that I'd even told him that much.

"I'm sorry Ade. Don't take it to heart, aunts are like that. They just don't see how awesome people can be." Leo said genuinely, even though he was fiddling with some pipe cleaners in his hands.

"You hate your aunt to?" I asked

"Yep, the real one and the fake one." He murmured.

"Sounds confusing." I smiled.

"It is, but lets just say they weren't on team Leo." He said looking up. A huge cheesy grin was planted across his face. His deep brown eyes glistened in the moonlight.

"So can all children of Hephaestus set fire to things?" I asked.

"Nope, just me. And a few others before me. It's not that great though, I don't usually use it to set people's clothes on fire, but Frank and Jason were asking for it." He laughed.

"Why what did they do?" I asked intrigued.

"I was trying to get them to help me with these Spheres I found. But they stood me up for their girlfriends. I'm their supreme commander for hades sakes." He replied. I laughed a little in response.

"What makes you their supreme commander?" I asked amused.

"Long story, but as Supreme Commander they should obey my orders." He laughed. I was happy to see his mood lighten up.

"Of course." I giggled. But I instantly felt bad. I should have been grieving mum but instead I was laughing and joking. I didn't even cry when she died, I was in too much shock. But now things were starting to really hit me.

"You okay?" Leo asked.

"Yeah fine, just tired." I lied. Luckily for me we were now outside of my cabin.

"Well sleep well Adriana." Leo smiled.

"Leo."

"Yes."

"Don't call me that." I said flatly.

"I'm sorry but that's my name for you. It's that or Adey." He laughed.

"Fine, but don't think you're not going to pay." I warned.

"Night Adriana." He laughed as I opened the door to my cabin.

"Night Supreme Commander, thanks for walking me back." I smiled, entering the cabin. I quickly changed into my Pyjamas and got into bed. As soon as my head touched the pillow, I felt tired. All the events of today had completely warn me out. My thoughts drifted to Leo. Don't ask why but something about him intrigued me. In front of everyone he was a funny, happy guy. But for a moment today I saw a glimpse of sadness behind that cheesy grin. I'd only known the guy for a few hours but I could see his change in personality. Before finally drifting to sleep I promised myself that I'd find out more about Leo Valdez. I'd find out what was causing such sadness in his gleaming brown eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone, so this is chapter 3. Thank you all for being so patient in waiting for the update. I meant to update sooner, but I've had a lot of personal stuff to deal with this week, and I didn't really get the chance to write. Thanks so much for all the reviews you have all been incredibly nice. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter and I will hope to update a lot sooner next time:)**

The hot sun blared down on my body. We were in the middle of a heat wave and it was cooler staying inside than going out. However despite my constant moaning, mum had forced me out of the house to enjoy the hot weather. In the end I gave in and met up with Annie and Phoebe, my two closest and only friends. We ended up going to Annie's house and lounged around in the sun, chatting and having a good time. Before I knew it, I realized that I should've been home an hour ago. I practically ran home, an apology already forming in my mouth. But when I got to the apartment I saw that the door was already open. That's when I knew something was wrong. No-one around here leaves their doors open, it's not safe. Taking a deep breath I walked into the apartment. The sight before my eyes caused all the blood to drain from my pale face. My mum was lying there, dead. She'd been shot. Blood was everywhere. It was all my fault I shouldn't have left her. She was gone. She was dead. She wasn't coming back.

I shot straight up in my bed. I was completely sweaty and tears ran down my cheeks. I looked around and remembered where I was. The events of yesterday flooded my mind. I was safe. No more monsters, no more Aunt Sarah. I looked over at Percy's bunk to see if I had awoken him. Luckily for me, he was happily drooling in his sleep. Sliding my legs over my bed, I checked the time. It was half four in the morning. But I didn't want to go to sleep. Not after what I just saw. Besides, tears where still streaming down my face and I knew that I was close to breaking down. Making a quick decision, I quietly slid on a pair of jeans and my sneakers, and headed out of the cabin. I didn't exactly know where I was going, I barely knew my way around camp. But I just wanted to clear my head in peace. The forest seemed the best place to do this. I started walking towards the trees and soon enough I entered an eerie darkness.

As I got deeper and deeper chills ran down my back, but I forced myself to go on. Images of mums dead body whirled through my head and my eyes began to sting with tears again. This time I couldn't hold it back anymore. I slumped against a tree, my legs no longer holding my weight, and broke down into a fit of tears. I don't usually break down in the middle of magical forests, but I was having a bad week. I cried for my mum, I wanted her back so desperately. Despite being accepted into this camp, I still felt alone. I barely knew anyone here. I was only really comfortable around Annie and Phoebe and that was only because we'd been friends for years.

"Are you okay?" Came a voice. My head shot up so quickly that I hit it against the tree trunk. I didn't look at the person in front of me because I was too busy wiping my eyes. I hated people seeing me like this, especially people I didn't know.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just walking back from the bunker, because I stupidly fell asleep there, and I saw you." The voice started rambling slightly. It was a boy's voice, which made me feel even more embarrassed. I sniffled, trying to regain composure. I was secretly hoping that the person would just go away. I wasn't up for explaining why I was sitting under a tree at four in the morning crying.

"Listen, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. But, I'm not leaving until I know you're okay." The voice said softly.

"P-please just leave me. I'm fine." I muttered pathetically. I was hoping the unknown person didn't know me. I didn't want to give off the impression that I was pathetic to everyone in camp.

"Adriana." The voice said in realization. Well that's just typical for the stranger to recognise me.

"Ade." I stammered automatically.

"Well Ade, if you wouldn't mind, the Supreme Commander would love to see your gorgeous face." The person said. My heart sunk when I realized it was Leo. Why did it have to be Leo of all people? He'd just tell Percy. Giving up I looked up at him. He was sat down just in front of me. As usual he had his elfish grin plastered on his face.

"See that wasn't that hard." He smiled.

"Please don't tell anyone." I begged.

"I won't, but only if you tell me what's wrong." Leo said in return.

"Nothings wrong, I'm just being stupid." I lied. I rarely opened up to people I knew, let alone people I just met.

"Well that's probably the biggest lie I've ever heard, apart from the ones Gaia told, now they were whoppers." Leo rambled. I placed my head back in my hands, I was so grateful that it was dark so he couldn't see the true state of my face.  
"Leo, not to be rude. But could you please leave me alone." I said again, my voice was still weak.

"I would, but I doubt you know your way back to your cabin from here." Leo said smugly. I hated that he was right.

"I'm sure I'll be able to find my way back." I said. I wanted to be on my own.

"Really, well there's all sorts of things in these woods, and I personally aren't going to let you get eaten alive." Leo replied cooly. I couldn't help but groan.

"Fine." I sighed.

"After you Adriana." He gestured. I wiped the remaining tears off my face and led the way. The walk started off in an awkward silence. I wasn't ready to start off a conversation and Leo seemed fascinated in the pipe cleaners he was fiddling with.

"Listen, I'm not very good with the whole heart to heart business, but please know that if you want to talk, I'll listen." Leo said softly.

"Thanks." I replied taken a back. I'm not used to people offering to listen about my problems.

"I get how you feel. It might be hard at first, but it does get better." Leo carried on.

"Yeah but it was my fault." I mumbled quietly.

"Ade, don't do that to yourself. Don't blame yourself, you couldn't have prevented whatever happened." Leo tried to assure me. I didn't know what to reply. It was my fault and there was no point in listening to people trying to tell me different. We were coming back to the cabins now anyway.

"Well, bye Adriana." Leo said smiling slightly. I don't know how he was always smiling.

"Bye, uh thanks for walking me back." I stammered.

"Anytime. Please talk to me if you ever feel like you just have. I won't tell Percy as long as you don't keep whatever's bothering you, inside of you." Leo said gently.

"I won't. Anyway like I said I was just being stupid, I'm fine, honestly. Thanks again Leo." I said, walking back into my cabin before he could say anything else. I suddenly found myself exhausted, not even bothering to get changed, I crawled back into bed and fell asleep.

I woke up to someone nudging me. Groggily I opened my eyes and saw Percy standing above me.

"Morning Ade, breakfast starts in ten minutes." He smiled.

"Morning." I smiled in return. I got up and slid out of bed.

"Um, do you normally sleep fully dressed?" Percy asked. I looked down only just remembering that I was wearing my jeans.  
"Oh yeah, I uh got up early and went for a walk. Guess I fell asleep." I tried to lie. It wasn't very convincing but Percy didn't question it. I didn't bother getting changed again, so I just tied my messy brown hair into a ponytail.

"Did you sleep well?" Percy asked, as I was putting on my sneakers.

"Yeah I did thanks." I smiled in return.

"That's good. If you get any weird dreams it's normal, all part of being a Demi-god." Percy assured. It was nice to know that my dreams were only going to get worse. I followed Percy out of the cabin and to the Mess Hall. Most of the cabins were already seated, so I didn't have to wait long to tuck into a plate of pancakes.

"Sorry about last night, I got a bit distracted and the next thing I knew, you were gone." Percy said.

"It's fine, I was just a little tired so I went back to the cabin." I replied.

"Did you find your way alright?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, um Leo walked me back." I stammered slightly.

"Leo was there?" Percy asked puzzled.

"Yeah he didn't stay for long though."

"I'm just glad you got back alright. I thought that I'd take you down to the canoe lake in the morning. Teach you how to use your powers." Percy said.

"That sounds good." I smiled genuinely. I found it weird being surrounded by people who cared.

"Then I thought we could have some training, for capture the flag tonight." Percy added.

"About capture the flag, how do you play? I've never played it before." I said slightly embarrassed.

"Oh right, sorry I should have explained it to you earlier. Basically there are two teams, the red and the blue. We're on the blue team. Each team takes one side of the creek and hides their flag. The flag has to be in visible sight. Some of your team have to defend your flag, whilst others attack the other team and find their flag. The first team to get the other teams flag across the creek into their own side, wins." Percy explained. It took a moment to take it all in, but the game sounded simple enough.

"So it's a pretty safe game then, no swords or daggers." I assumed.  
"Ahh, about that. It's a training excercise so swords and daggers are necessary. But don't worry you're not allowed to kill or maim anyone. And anyway I'll practise with you later today, you'll be fine, you're the girl who handled the Minotaur." Percy smiled. I didn't feel overly assured.

"Is there any other rules?" I asked.

"Yeah, teams can catch opposing prisoners and put them in their own jail. Only a teammate can free them. Also you're allowed magical objects, so you'd be allowed Bertie, but you're not allowed to use magical powers. Chiron had to put a stop to that this year, seeing as Jason could just fly over everyone, or Nico could shadow travel." Percy remembered. It was nice to know I was about to play a game where you had the chance of getting imprisoned or impaled.

"So who else is on our team?" I asked.

"Well the camp have a bet running over, who would beat who at capture the flag between Jason and I. For the last two weeks we've tried to get cabins to side with us. It's an even split. Athena's sided with me, but that's only because of Annabeth. Ares has as well, but Clarisse just wants to beat Jason. Annabeth managed to win over Apollo, and I convinced the Stoll's to get Hermes to side with us. Annabeth also knows people in Iris and Hypnos, Frank managed to win over Hebe and I managed to convince Dionysus. Jason's got a pretty strong team though, so Hades knows who will win." Percy informed me.

"Well, it sounds like it will be an interesting game." I said finishing my final pancake. Percy nodded in agreement and eat his final waffle.

"You ready to go down to the lake?" He asked with a smile.

"Sure, but do I need a towel or anything?" I asked.

"Nope, I'm pretty sure you won't be needing one." He said with a mischievous grin.

Percy found it very unusual that the daughter of the sea-god, couldn't swim. It wasn't that I didn't want to learn how to, my mum said I'd never need to know and she couldn't afford lessons for me. So it was quite scary when Percy led me to the very deep canoe lake.

"Just take it slow. You might want to take off your shoes to start with though." He advised, edging towards the water. I quickly took off my only pair of shoes and followed Percy to the water. Something about it felt right and for some reason I felt strong.

"Now just concentrate on keeping your clothes dry. It should come naturally but seeing as this is your first time, you may need to concentrate a little." Percy said, beginning to walk into the lake. I was surprised that his clothes didn't get wet, even though he assured me they wouldn't. Seeing him walk into the water gave me confidence. I concentrated on keeping my clothes dry and followed in after him. To my surprise it worked. My clothes were completely dry, aswell as my skin. I got deeper and deeper, getting more and more confident. Soon I was standing in waist deep water.

"Now for the good part. I take it you haven't been underwater before, so if you want I could put an air bubble around you, just so you can see what it's like." Percy offered kindly. I was incredibly grateful, as I was still nervous about the thought of going underwater. What if it didn't work and I drowned.

"Thanks." I smiled nervously.

"Ready on the count of three." Percy said lowering himself slightly, "One, two, three."

Percy grabbed my hand, which made me flinch a little, and brought me underwater. I closed my eyes panicking.

"You can open your eyes." Percy said gently. I slowly opened my eyes and was greeted to one of the weirdest sights I've ever seen. I was underwater but everything was perfectly clear. Percy had created an air bubble around me so I could breathe, he didn't need one. I felt even more powerful and I knew that I could trust Percy.

"Can we try without the air bubble?" I asked.

"Sure." Percy smiled getting rid of the air bubble. At first, I held my breath, but something told me that everything was going to be alright. Cautiously, I breathed in, expecting my lungs to fill with water. I was pretty shocked when I didn't die. Instead I was breathing normally. I felt free and confident, something I rarely felt. My thoughts were clear and I felt relaxed for once. I was tempted to stay underwater forever. I just let both time and my thoughts wonder. Well that was until someone nudged me. I looked around to see that Percy had already returned to the surface. I pushed up and joined him. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the sunlight.

"You were down there for ten minutes." Percy smiled.

"What!" I said shocked, it felt like it had been ten seconds.

"Yep, it feels good doesn't it. It makes you feel stronger." Percy laughed.

"Yeah, I wish I went to the beach before. It's so peaceful underwater." I replied. Being in the water had given me enough confidence to have a conversation without making it awkward.

"We can come back later if you want, but I think we should get some sword practice. Also Annabeth wants to have a tactics meeting." Percy informed me.

"Sounds good, I think I need all the practise I can get." I smiled.

"Speaking of the Fury." Percy said, his eyes lighting up. I followed his gaze and saw Annabeth waiting at the side of the lake. Percy ran out of the water towards her. I followed him slowly, not wanting to leave. When he reached Annabeth he greeted her with a hug and a light kiss. They both looked so happy together it made me feel happy. I decided to give them some privacy so I looked down at the water and started swirling my hand about. Happy memories of my mum flooded my mind. Our late night hugs, dancing around the kitchen together, watching a film every saturday and laughing so hard that we ended up crying. I felt my eyes water with happy and nostalgic tears, but I blinked them away.

"Ade." Annabeth cried. I snapped out of my trance and looked down at Percy and Annabeth, for some bizarre reason they were a few feet lower than me. That's when I realized a small wave of water had lifted me into the air a little. I stupidly panicked causing it to fall back into the lake, bringing me with it. I made my way to the surface and towards Percy and Annabeth extremely confused.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"You controlled the water, were you angry or something?" Percy asked looking slightly guilty.

"No, I was feeling happy. I was remembering things." I quickly assured.

"Seaweed Brain was only asking, because usually when he pulls something like that he's angry." Annabeth smiled.

"I am not." Percy moaned, making Annabeth and I laugh. "Anyway it was pretty impressive Ade."

"Yeah I have to admit, it was pretty good for your first time." Annabeth added. My cheeks started to feel hot. I wasn't used to getting complimented a lot.

"Um, thanks, but I doubt I'll be able to do it again. I didn't even realize what I was doing just now, yet alone do it again." I stammered.

"Nonsense, with a bit of training you'll be fine." Percy smiled.

"Yeah you'll be better than Seaweed Brain." Annabeth teased.

"Oh really Wise Girl." Percy said pushing her a little.

"Yes really." Annabeth smirked pushing him back.

"Stop distracting me, I came here because Leo wanted to talk to you Ade. What about I have no idea." Annabeth said with a grin. I felt my cheeks grow hot again. I knew Leo would want to talk about last night but, I just wanted to forget about it.

"Me either, I'll go see him later. We need to practise for capture the flag." I said, earning smiles from Percy and Annabeth. We turned heading towards the Arena, I didn't want to leave the comfort of the water but I knew I'd be returning soon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone, I'm so sorry how late I've updated this chapter, I'm not even going to make excuses. Thanks so much though for viewing and reviewing this story, it means so much. I will try to update sooner next time. Please enjoy this chapter and reivew:)**

I swung Bertie forward, but Percy just knocked him back. He responded with a lunge, which I just about dodged. He lunged again and I met his sword with mine. He firmly pushed Bertie away with Riptide, causing me to lose my balance and fall straight on the floor.

"Jeez Seaweed Brain, you could go a little easier on her." Annabeth scolded, helping me up.

"Sorry Ade, I got a little carried away." Percy said, slightly embarrassed.

"It's fine, it's not like any monster will go easy on me." I replied. "Another round?"

"Maybe we should have a break, we've been practising for at least two hours." Percy smiled. I didn't disagree. Droplets of sweat had formed on my hairline and I knew that I was very red in the cheeks.

"What say we go to lunch, then have another practise session after." Annabeth suggested.

"Sounds good, how long away is lunch?" I asked.

"About fifteen minutes. We could also go back to the canoe lake, after, if you want. The beauty of being a child of the sea god, is you don't have to let your stomach settle." Percy joked.

"You're so cute when you say stupid things." Annabeth teased. I had only known Percy and Annabeth for two days, but I could tell they'd been through a lot together, just from the way they interacted.

"And you're so cute when you're being smart, Wise girl." Percy teased back. We took off our armour and relaxed for a bit until the lunch horn went.

"So what do you want to know Ade?" Percy asked, completely taking me a back.

"What do you mean?" I asked unsure.

"What do you want to know about camp, it can be anything?" Percy asked again. There was a lot I wanted to know but I wasn't sure where to start.

"Is there more than one camp for half-bloods?" I finally asked.

"Good question." Annabeth smiled. "There's Camp Jupiter for Roman demi gods. This whole memory taking buisness happened, causing Jason and Percy to switch camps. Luckily we are still good friends with the Roman camp, considering everything that's gone on. Frank, Hazel and Jason were from Camp Jupiter, Frank and Hazel still visit a lot, but Jason moved over here to be with Piper." Annabeth informed me, it was a lot to take in.

"So you got your memory stolen?" I asked Percy in pure amazement.

"Yep, eight months Hera took me. The only thing I could remember was Annabeth. Which was weird when I woke up in a wolves den. But I got it back, Jason did as well." Percy replied cooly.

"So much stuff has happened to you lot." I said, pretty shocked.

"That's nothing, maybe later I can give you a brief rundown on my amazingly stressful life." Percy joked.

"That's if you have a few hours to spare." Annabeth joked back. I felt a little insignificant compared to Percy. From the sounds of things he was a hero. I didn't kill a stupid Minotaur and from the sounds of things Percy had managed to do it when he first entered camp. I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of the lunch horn. My stomach rumbled at the thought of the exquisite food I was about to receive.

* * *

I scoffed down a slice of Olive pizza. It was now dinner and I'd been training for capture the flag all day. All the campers were filling up for the big event.

"Nervous?" Percy asked grinning.

"Very." I responded. We'd been training all day, and although my control of the water had gotten a little better, my sword fighting still wasn't amazing.

"You'll be fine. Stick with Annabeth. Athena and Hypnos are taking defense with you." Percy replied. Athena cabin had come up with the battle plan. Percy and the Ares cabin were attacking. Apollo, Iris and Hermes were taking border control, Dionysus and Hebe were in charge of taking prisoners, and Athena, Hypnos and I were guarding our flag. Annabeth told me that having Hypnos cabin on your team could be a blessing or a curse. They would either be fast asleep in the middle of the game, or placing people into deep slumbers.

Soon campers were finishing up with their meals and gathering to discuss tactics. After I finished eating, I got into my armour. I had a bit of trouble putting it on, but Annabeth helped me adjust it. Before I knew it we were gathered around Chiron who was giving everyone a final talk.

"So, play clean and safe, and enjoy." Chiron finished off. He signaled for the teams to hide their flag and get into positions. Our team took the left side of the creek. Everyone thought it would be wise to place it just before Zeus' fist. This meant it wasn't up high, so Jason couldn't pull anything with the winds, and it was in clear sight to guard and surround. Everyone ran off to get into their positions leaving me with defense.

"I'll guard the end of the clearing. Callum take the right side and Ade take the left side. Just make sure no-one gets through." Annabeth said, pulling out a blue Yankees hat and placing it on her head. I couldn't help but gape when she disappeared. "They're not going to know what's hit them." She laughed.

I assumed she ran off to her position, but I couldn't really tell. I snapped out of the trance I was in and ran to the left side of the clearing. I decided to stand in the middle of my section, so I could see everything going on around me. I don't know why, but I decided to climb the first tree nearest to the clearing. In doing this it meant I could have a good view of any intruders. A loud claxon sounded, followed by two loud battle cries. I could hear the distant sound of swords clanking together. For a while not a lot happened. I sat in my tree waiting to hear someone coming. I could see our flag from where I was sitting and no-one had ventured an attack yet. It was deadly silent when a voice started shouting.

"Screw you Annabeth. I take it your hats working again." It was Jason's voice. He'd obviously stumbled across Annabeth. I could hear the sound of sword meeting dagger, but it didn't last long.

"Yeah, I get the picture. Take me as your prisoner." Jason sighed in defeat. I could hear Annabeth laugh in victory.

"Guys there's probably more of them so keep your guard up. Sparky here wouldn't attack alone, especially as he's a Roman." Annabeth called out, still invisible.

"Hey, what's that suppose to mean." Jason yelled in outrage. For a minute I was so distracted that I didn't notice a small, scrawny figure. I looked below me just in time to see a black mop sneak around. Without thinking I jumped from my tree on top of the figure. A scream escaped from both mine and the intruders mouth. I rolled off the lump I landed on extremely embarrassed.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"Ade are you alright?" Annabeth called out.

"Fine, everything's fine." I called back. My legs were slightly grazed, but the lump broke my fall.

"And I was under the impression you were avoiding me." The lump said getting up and brushing themselves off. Why did it have to be Leo? I swear the boy was stalking me.

"I wasn't, anyway shouldn't I be battling you or something." I replied quickly, embarrassed enough.

"I think jumping out of a tree and falling on top of me counts as attacking me." Leo replied grinning.

"Sorry about that, are you ok?" I asked, feeling my cheeks burn.

"I'm fine, not that any damage could be done to the sizzingly hot Mcshizzle man." Leo laughed.

"Um, right. I have no idea what that means. But I think I should take you captive now." I replied, a bit unsure what to do.

"Of course, of course, lead the way." Leo said bowing. I was about to lead the way when a horn blew off.

"Looks like you won." Leo sighed. "Again."

I could hear the cheers from my team echo through the forest. I felt happy that our team had won, but at the same time I didn't feel like I had a lot to do with our victory.

"You know you could loosen up a bit Adriana. Your team did just win capture the flag." Leo grinned.

"It's Ade." I said flatly.

"Nah, I prefer Adriana." Leo replied smiling, he seemed to have a habit of getting on my nerves.

"Listen I'm sorry for falling on top of you, but shouldn't you be getting back to your team?" I asked. I wasn't the best person in the world to keep a conversation going.

"Nah, they don't need me. Besides we have a lot to talk about." Leo said cooly.

"We do?" I asked, pretending to be oblivious to what he was talking about.

"Yes we do, now would you please explain to me what last night was all about." Leo said a lot softer.

"Leo please." I begged, not wanting to talk about it.

"Leo stop pestering her." Appeared Annabeth out of nowhere. It gave me such a shock that I nearly fell over.

"Jeez Annabeth, don't sneak up on people like that. And didn't anyone tell you it was rude to eavesdrop." Leo said.

"I was looking for Ade, so I hardly call that eavesdropping. Besides, it looked like you were annoying her." Annabeth replied.

"I wasn't. She came flying out of a tree on top of me." Leo argued.

"Still, you looked like you were trying and desperately failing, to flirt with her, just like you did with Thalia, Reyna-"

"Okay I get the picture, but I wasn't flirting with Ade." Leo retorted.

"He really wasn't." I said bright red in the face.

"Well I'm going to meet the rest of the team and celebrate, you coming Ade?" Annabeth asked.

"Sure." I replied, anything was better than speaking to Leo. As I followed Annabeth back into the forest, I saw Leo turn towards the clearing. It intrigued me where he was going and what he was doing. Leo Valdez intrigued me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, guys I'm so so sorry for the delay in the update. It was so difficult to access my computer and update so I'm sorry. Thank you to the people who support this story no matter what it means so so so much. I'm sorry for any mistakes and I hope you really enjoy this chapter.:)**

I woke up sweating and shaking. My dreams had got weirder and weirder since my arrival at camp. I'd been here for a week now. Although I'd become a lot more comfortable around Percy and his friends, I still felt a little bit worthless. Percy had told me about all of the quests and adventures he'd gone on, with Annabeth, Frank, Jason, Leo, Hazel, Piper, Nico, Grover and Tyson. Compared to everything they had survived and been through, I felt like nothing. I couldn't even fight my way out of a paper bag, let alone Tartarus or Gaia.

Sighing to myself, I looked over at the time. It was five thirty in the morning. Percy was still happily drooling, and seeing as I knew I wouldn't go back to sleep, I went for a walk. I knew my way around camp pretty well now. With my morning walks and late night strolls, I knew the best places to go and not be seen. I decided to go to my usual place. The woods.

After walking for a good fifteen minutes, my thoughts had cleared slightly. I found myself staring at Zeus' fist. Memories from the previous week's game of capture the flag, flooded my mind, and I suddenly remembered Leo disappearing off. I hadn't seen Leo much over the last week. He'd stopped bugging me about that night a couple of days ago and I hadn't really seen him since.

Curiosity took over me and I re-traced his steps to try and work out where he disappeared off to. I followed the path around Zeus' fist and soon found myself facing a huge limestone cliff. What surprised me the most though, was the pair of bronze doors at the bottom of it. I couldn't contain my curiosity any longer, so I decided to check out what was behind the doors. Luckily for me the doors were open, and after sliding through them, I took in the sight in front of me. It was amazing. A huge workshop filled with endless benches, tools and machines which were waiting to be created or fixed. I knew that the workshop was being occupied due to the amount of clutter spread across it. A light glowed out of a room at the end of the workshop, and a faint voice sounded from it.

I slowly wandered down to the room. Observing but not touching the creations I passed. A huge bronze dragon caught my attention at the end of the room. Its craftsmanship was so clever, that it looked like it belonged in a fairy tale. Soon enough I was standing at the doorway to the room. I couldn't help but laugh when I heard that someone was attempting to sing Miley Cyrus. Without thinking I barged into the room.

There in front of me was Leo Valdez, dancing and singing to Wrecking ball, whilst tinkering with a golden sphere.

"I will always want you." Leo sang, very badly, to his sphere.

"You do know that it will never want you back." I interrupted him. Leo screamed and turned on the spot.

"Ahh Adriana, I see you've found my lair." He smirked.

"I was just going on a walk and I just happened to stumble across it." I lied.

"And what were you doing walking through the woods at six in the morning?" Leo grinned. He always seemed so happy, it just didn't seem to make sense in my head.

"What are you doing dancing to Miley Cyrus at six in the morning?" I stammered back. Leo grinned.

"Stubborn one you are. Well at least you've stopped blanking me." Leo smiled.

"I wasn't blanking you." I mumbled.

"Well it doesn't matter, now I have you in my lair, you will obey me." Leo said dramatically.

"You're mad." I muttered.

"Aren't we all, anyway let me give you a tour of the bunker." Leo said excitedly. Before I could argue, he grabbed my hand, much to my dismay, and gave me the full tour of the bunker.

An hour later the tour was finished. Leo had given me a full description on each machine. He'd taken especially long, talking about Festus. Even though I didn't understand a lot of what he was talking about, I found it very interesting. I loved the stories about Festus the most, Leo's voice was full of such passion when he talked about him, it warmed my heart. Festus was such a beautiful creation as well, it was hard not to admire him. By the time Leo had showed me around, it was seven.

"So what do you think?" He finally asked.

"I love it." I replied quietly.

"Thank god, you barely spoke all the way round. I thought you hated the place." Leo smiled in relief.

"No it's amazing, where did you learn to build machines like that?" I asked. I couldn't build or fix anything, I just ended up breaking things.

"Well being a child of Hephaestus means that you're always tinkering with something, whether you like it or not. Also I spent the first eight years of my life in a machine shop, I learnt from the best." Leo murmured slightly. His face was etched with thought, it was as if he was reminiscing something.

"Uh, are you okay?" I asked.

"Course, I'm fine. Are you hungry, because I'm starving. What say we get breakfast? I love breakfast." Leo rambled, brushing his hand through his oily hair.

"Yeah, uh breakfast sounds good. I do love a bit of breakfast." I murmured awkwardly. I mentally kicked myself for being the way I was.

"Lead the way Milady." Leo bowed, leading the way out of the bunker.

"So what were you doing up early?" Leo finally asked.

"Bad dreams." I admitted knowing he wouldn't drop the subject.

"Same, when I can't sleep I work." Leo replied.

"More like sing to Miley Cyrus." I joked.

"What can I say she's my fatal flaw." Leo shrugged, his famous smile planted on his face. For a while we walked in silence. But it was a nice silence, not an awkward one which I was so accustomed to. It had only seemed like a few minutes, until we arrived at the mess hall.

"Leo!" Annabeth called out, running towards us with Percy alongside her.

"Where have you two been?" Percy asked.

"Adriana was just out on a walk, when she bumped into me. Why?" Leo asked. I was grateful that he lied. However it still annoyed me that he called me by my real name.

"Chiron's gathered the campers. It's urgent. It's about the thing we were scared would happen."Annabeth said vaguely, but Leo seemed to have gotten the gist. Over the last two days, head counsellors gathered every night for lengthy meetings. Everyone around camp was getting anxious, but no one would tell us what they were about.

Percy, Annabeth, Leo and I joined the other campers in the mess hall. Chiron and Mr.D were standing at the front. Chiron looked even older than usual, and something was obviously bothering him. By their sides was Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the camps oracle.

"Campers." Chiron boomed, once everyone had arrived. "I come to deliver bad news. Our friends Camp Jupiter are in trouble. Someone from the inside had poisoned the aqueducts, poisoning nearly every person in the vicinity. The poison is believed to have come from the root of the Temero plant. The poison itself takes up to a week to fully take over the bloodstream, however it's different for each person. That leaves five days to find the cure."

The camp went silent as everyone took in the news. I'd never been to Camp Jupiter, let alone know anyone from there except, Jason, Hazel and Frank, but I could tell the amount of worry campers felt for them.

"In order to help Camp Jupiter, campers must go on a quest to find the Medulla flower." Chiron informed, hushing the whispers which were going around. A green mist suddenly appeared around Rachel, and her eyes turned to a deep emerald colour. I was unsure of what to do, it didn't look normal.

"Don't worry Adriana, she does this a lot." Leo whispered casually.

"Nine demi-gods must find the cure,

In order to succeed, their souls must be pure,

As for the Daughter of the Sea,

Wisdom and Fire hold her key,

The answers lie where time stands still,

Fail and camp will be clouded by an endless chill." Rachel recited in a raspy voice which didn't belong to her.

Campers turned and stared at me. Their eyes made me feel extremely uncomfortable, and I just wanted to disappear.

"Well that clears things up. Adriana, I know you've only been at camp for a week, but seeing as you're the only daughter of the Poseidon that we know of, I have good reason to believe the prophecy is referring to you." Chiron said with kind eyes.

"Y-you're saying I have to go on the quest?" I stammered.

"Great Camp Jupiter have no chance now." A buff looking girl said angrily.

"Cut her some slack Clarisse." Percy spat back.

"Enough!" Chiron boomed. "Yes my child, you have to go on the quest. You may also pick eight others to accompany you. However I think it would be wise to pick Mr. Valdez, given his abilities."

"Prophecies just can't resist me." Leo grinned. Everyone shot him daggers.

"Annabeth may also be a wise choice, given she is from Athena cabin and holds the most experience." Chiron continued.

"Of course." I said not thinking of anyone better. That left six more people to choose.

"Who else do you wish to accompany you?" Chiron asked.

"Percy." I said straight away. He had a lot of experience when it came to quests. "And Frank, Jason, Hazel, Nico and Piper." I said quickly. I had reasons for choosing them. Frank, Hazel and Jason were originally from Camp Jupiter, so they'd obviously want to help. I felt bad separating Jason and Piper so I thought it would be best if she came. Also Percy told me about how useful her charm speak was. As for Nico, there was a powerful vibe about him which I thought could be useful.

"Right it's sorted. The eight of you have breakfast, then report to the rec room. You're leaving today." Chiron stated.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, so I'm so so so sorry that I haven't update sooner. I've been so busy with it being Christmas and I've also been ill. I spent nearly all of last week in bed and I haven't felt well enough to write. I break up for the holidays tomorrow so hopefully I can update a lot more frequently. Thanks so so much for all the positive comments, you have no idea how much they mean to me. Thank you so much again, I really love you guys and please enjoy:)**

I sat nervously around the Ping Pong table in the rec room. I didn't eat breakfast, somehow receiving a prophecy about me managed to put me off food. We were all waiting anxiously for Chiron to start.

"Thank you for meeting here. I'm pretty sure most of you are used to these situations by now. Anyway, cutting to the point. You must find the cure." Chiron began.

"But where do we even start?" Hazel asked glumly, it must have been hard for her seeing as camp Jupiter was her old home.

"I've done some research over breakfast. The Medulla plant can only be found in Apollos' garden." Annabeth informed us.

"Apollo has a special garden?" Leo asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, it's known to be the most pure and beautiful places there is." Annabeth answered.

"If it's in Apollos garden, then why can't Apollo just go get it?" Percy asked. Annabeth rolled her eyes at him as if he was stupid.

"Because Seaweed Brain, the gods can't always intervene, especially with their children. I thought you already knew that." Annabeth replied. Percy raised his hands in defense, earning a few snickers from the boys.

"So where is this garden anyway?" Jason asked, he was eager to get going and save his former camp.

"No-one knows the exact location of it. However, there are entrances placed all over the country, but the only one I could find was at Apollos temple." Annabeth continued.

"Great, let's get going then." Frank said standing up.

"That's the slight problem, it's in Greece." Annabeth sighed. Everyone's mouth dropped including mine, we were expected to go to Greece, find a magic flower and return back to San Francisco in under five days. Not to mention the amount of monster attacks we were likely to encounter.

"How are we supposed to get to Greece?" I asked, I didn't mean to sound stupid, but my curiosity took the better of me.

"Ahh, my dear Adriana. You've never had the pleasure of riding the Argo II." Leo smirked dramatically.

"The ship you built?" I asked. Percy had briefly told me about Leo's creation and I walked past it a few times, but apart from that I knew nothing about it.

"The ship I built! The ship I built! More like the amazing creation which saved nearly everyone in this rooms skins!" Leo cried.

"Jeez Leo, calm down. You can be such a girl sometimes." Piper laughed.

"Guys!" Jason called out, getting back everyone's attention. "We need to focus."

"Jason's right, even though we have the Argo II, we've lost our navigation system. I thought you were fixing Festus." Annabeth sighed.

"Oh wise girl, you underestimate me." Leo grinned.

"Leo." Percy stated.

"Yes Percy."

"Don't ever call Annabeth wise girl again, got it?" Percy replied flatly.

"Got it." Leo gulped. "Anyway as I was saying, don't you worry about Festus, I've got everything under control. Now if you don't mind can I be excused to make a few final adjustments."

"Of course, how long will you be? You need to leave as soon as possible." Chiron said.

"Give me an hour." Leo replied.

"Okay, what say we meet at the Argo II in an hour and a bit?" Percy asked everyone. After everyone nodded Leo ran out of the room.

"He's insane, absolutely crazy." Frank sighed.

"But what would we do without him." Piper replied.

"Anyway, have you done any more research Annabeth?" Percy asked, once again bringing back the group's attention.

"Well I was thinking about the line of the prophecy, 'In order to succeed, their souls must be pure,' I can't help but think that it has something to do with Apollo's garden. Like I said, it's a thing of such beauty and purity that I don't think it allows negativity to enter. That's why it's been protected for so long. His garden contains plants that could kill, give life, create miracles and the reason that these plants have never been in the wrong hands is because people have to have pure intentions to enter." Annabeth said very quickly. Everyone just stared at her, amazed that she'd managed to gather so much information.

"So you're basically saying that it will allow us to enter, because we're here to find the cure." Frank said, he looked somewhat relieved.

"Not exactly, just because you have the right intentions it doesn't mean that you still haven't got demons inside of you." Annabeth replied, Franks face seemed to drop slightly.

"I have to agree with Annabeth. No one's soul can ever be completely pure. My suggestion is the nine of you confess and let out all the darkness inside of you. It might not mean that you're completely pure but it may help your cause. I expect all of you to be there for each other. Whatever is said will be between the nine of you and I hate to say it but the worst secrets and fears tend to clear your soul better. Just be there for one and other." Chiron informed us. Everyone looked troubled. Some of my thoughts and secrets were pretty private and I wasn't too happy spilling them out to people I barely knew. Luckily I wasn't the only one who looked anxious. Nico had gone paler than usual, which I didn't think was possible, and Hazel looked almost guilty about something.

"We will, whatever is said will stay between us. We just have to remember that all of this is for Camp Jupiter." Jason assured, taking the lead.

"Well if that's everything, I think you should all prepare yourselves. I know that the food situation won't be a problem, but I think it would be wise to stock up on medical supplies, it's going to be a dangerous journey." Chiron finished up. I was quite relieved that the meeting was over, I'd suddenly become a very hot and the idea of fresh air seemed pleasing.

"Yeah that's all I have to say." Annabeth agreed. After everyone agreed that we should start packing, Chiron dismissed us all.

"Annabeth, Percy, may I have a quick word with you?" Chiron asked. Percy and Annabeth looked at each other suspiciously before they nodded. I followed Piper, Hazel, Frank, Jason and Nico out of the big house. As soon as the summer air hit me, I felt a lot better. I felt trapped in the rec room, trapped into something I didn't want to get myself into.

"What do you think Chiron wanted?" Hazel asked.

"Probably found out that they've been meeting each other after curfew." Jason laughed.

"They have?" I asked confused. Even though I was a deep sleeper, I woke up a lot in the night. Never before had I seen that Percy was missing from his bunk. Also, whenever I went on my late night strolls, I never caught them out together.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't know. They meet at midnight nearly every night." Jason replied laughing. Well at least that explained some things, whenever I went for a walk around camp it was usually in the early hours of the morning, so Percy was probably back in bed by then.

"Annabeth didn't tell us that, god she's so sneaky sometimes." Piper laughed.

"Pipes, I think your Aphrodite side is beginning to show." Jason joked, earning a punch from Piper.

"Well I'm going to go pack up my stuff, I'll see you soon." Frank said, giving Hazel a kiss on the cheek, before running off to his cabin.

"Same here, I've got a lot to pack." Piper excused herself.

"What make-up and spare outfits." Jason teased.

"Watch it Sparky." Piper shouted whilst running back to her cabin.

"Come on Nico, we should probably pack as well." Hazel said.

"Yeah I think I'm going to get started too." I said, turning towards my cabin.

"Nico can I talk to you for a sec?" Jason asked. Nico gave him a glare before he followed Jason towards his cabin. I turned and ran towards my cabin. Recently it had begun to feel a lot more like home. After a tiring day of training, I actually looked forward to sleeping in my bunk.

I opened the wooden door and headed towards my bunk. I didn't have any experience on what to bring when going on a quest, so I had no idea what to pack. I got out my rucksack, thinking that was the best place to start. First threw in the essentials such as underwear, toiletries and pyjamas. When I arrived at camp I only brought three tops, two pairs of jeans, a pair of shorts, a towel and a pair of sneakers. Since arriving at Camp Half-Blood I had received two orange tops, and an extra pair of shorts from Annabeth. After a lot of debate I decided to pack an extra Camp-Half blood t-shirt, seeing as I was currently wearing one, two extra tops, a pair of shorts, a pair of jeans and of course I was going to wear my sneakers. I also packed a picture of my mum and me. I had a few of them, but this one in particular was my favourite. It was taken on Christmas and we were both smiling, we were both happy, careless, and she was still alive.

I physically shook my head to stop thoughts, I knew I shouldn't be having, enter my head. I didn't have to try very hard though, seeing as Percy walked into the cabin.

"Hey Ade, you all packed?" He asked, heading over to his bunk and pulling out his own rucksack.

"Yeah, I wasn't to sure what exactly I'd be needing, but I think I packed enough." I replied.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." he smiled, shoving clothes into his bag.

"Yeah." I replied sceptically.

"Don't worry about this quest. It's okay to be a little nervous, but I've got your back no matter what." He said in a brotherly way. I was so speechless to his sudden kindness.

"Thanks Perce, listen I'm sorry for getting you involved in this. You've been through enough quests." I stammered.

"Its fine Ade, I wouldn't want to stay behind. What if someone got hurt and I could have somehow prevented it? Besides I love Annabeth too much to let her go on her own, whatever we do, we do together." Percy replied with a smile on his face.

"You really care about her." I said with a smile. It wasn't an observation, it was a statement.

"Yeah, after everything we've been through together, I really don't know what I'd do without her." Percy smiled, his eyes instantly lit up. Percy began throwing things into his bag, whilst I sat on my bunk trying to gather my thoughts. I was nervous for the quest, it wasn't just our lives at stake it was a whole camps.

"You know, what makes me even more determined to succeed in this quest, is the fact that I've seen what would be destroyed. The lives of children would be taken before they've even properly begun. I always thought Annabeth and I would raise our children there when we're older." Percy said sadly. I suddenly felt sick. I had no idea that children were staying at Camp Jupiter. Who would even want to hurt something as innocent and pure as a child? I felt like the weight on my shoulders had increased and all I wanted was to get this quest started.

"Ade are you okay? You've gone a little pale. It wasn't what I just said?" Percy asked concerned.

"No I'm fine. I'm going to get some air, I'll meet you at the Argo II." I stammered, grabbing my rucksack and heading towards the door.

"Do you want me to come with you, I'm pretty much packed." Percy offered.

"No, it's fine. I'll see you later." I replied. I stepped out of the cabin before he could argue. I didn't know where I wanted to go. The woods didn't seem as pleasing during the day, especially as there were so many campers about. I just ended up wandering around, having nowhere in particular to go. In the end I wound up at the Argo II. It was a pretty amazing ship. Its craftsmanship was work to be admired, and I found it hard to believe that Leo built it. It was so finished and perfect, which was the complete opposite to the mess Leo could be sometimes.

"Adriana, I see you've made it to my baby. And your early, it's nice to see that you're so keen." Came Leo's voice. I looked up to see that he was hanging on top of Festus. But Festus wasn't the spectacular, full-sized dragon I'd seen this morning. He was simply a mast-head.

"What did you do to Festus?" I asked.

"Climb up and take a look." Leo called out. Seeing as I never had the privilege of coming aboard the Argo II, I climbed up and joined him. The top deck was large and a control panel was near the front. It consisted of lots of random objects, including a wii remote and the sphere Leo was singing to this morning.

"You like it?" Leo asked excitedly.

"It's amazing." I said, nearly speechless.

"I added a few bits. It goes a lot faster than before. Festus is still Festus, except I added a function where he can transform into just a mast-head. Whenever we need him, he can change into his usual self. The only worry I have is how he'll fly, I haven't had the chance to test him." Leo rambled happily.

"Right, just remind me to not be around for that." I replied. Leo laughed.

"So you do have a sense of humour." He joked. I just glared at him. It wasn't that I didn't have a sense of humour, I just had to be comfortable around someone to start joking with them.

"And now for the grand tour." Leo smirked, dragging me into the ship.

By the time I'd seen all of the Argo II, the others had already arrived. It was amazing. The mess hall, the rooms, even the glass floor in the stables was impressive. I was going to take Leo's old room, which had been adjusted, and Leo was going to take what was Coach Hedge's room.

"You ready?" Annabeth asked me.

"Think so." I nodded. Chiron came to wave us all off along with some of the other campers.

"Return back safely." Chiron called out.

"We'll try." Percy replied.

"Bring us something back, possibly something we can sell." Shouted one of the Stoll brothers.

"In your dreams." Annabeth shouted back. Leo got the ship running and we were soon hovering in the air. Before I knew it camp was getting smaller and smaller. I was leaving my new home into a world full of unknown danger.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, merry Christmas ( I know it's a bit late). Sorry I haven't updated sooner, I've been caught up in the festivities. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter, it was really hard to write and I hope I did the characters justice. Anyway please review and enjoy and thanks for the support:)**

We'd only been flying for an hour, when Percy called everyone for a meeting in the Mini Mess Hall. I sat round the small table in between Annabeth and Piper, waiting for Percy to begin.

"So Annabeth and I were thinking about what Chiron said. We've already told each other some of our deepest darkest secrets, but we thought now would be a good time to let everything out. Now's probably when we're going to be interrupted the least." Percy began. My heart rate increased slightly at the thought of confessing my problems.

"What's this about confessing sins?" Leo asked confused.

"In order to enter Apollo's garden our souls have to be pure. Chiron thought it would be best to confess the darkest things on our conscience. I understand that it's difficult, but you all have to remember it's for Camp Jupiter, we don't really have a choice." Annabeth explained to Leo.

"So who's going first?" Frank asked nervously.

"I guess I'll start." Percy offered. Everyone nodded in agreement, no one really wanted to get the ball rolling.

"I have already told Annabeth this, so don't think that she's going to flip out." Percy warned. "Anyway, before the Titan War I had a crush on Rachel. The reason was because deep down I had feelings for Annabeth, but I was too scared to admit them. It didn't help that she constantly defended Luke, and I almost found it easier to be around Rachel, then battling about what I felt towards Annabeth. But I love Annabeth and to be honest I don't know what I'd do without her. She kept me going in Tartarus and she's the only thing I remembered when Hera took my memory. She's what kept me going, she keeps me going. If I lost her I don't know what I'd do. In fact if I was responsible for anyone on this ship getting hurt, I don't know what I'd do. I guess it's because I have a fear of not saving people. I have to help my friends, because without them I probably wouldn't even be here. "

Everyone was silent. Taking in what Percy had said. But the silence was soon broken by Annabeth passionately kissing Percy on the lips.

"Uh guys, Camps to save, secrets to admit too." Jason reminded them. They broke apart slightly red with embarrassment.

"I uh, guess it's my turn." Annabeth mumbled, still a little embarrassed.

"Well uh, as you probably know I always want to do the best I possibly can. The only reason I went on the mark of Athena quest, was to please my mother. I thought I could do something that so many people had failed at before. So, when Percy started hanging out with Rachel, I knew I had feelings for him because I became jealous. I was no longer the best. I have to always be the one with the knowledge, to know what to do, but sometimes I find it hard. I just don't want to disappoint anyone. Especially you Percy. When you went missing all the knowledge I had disappeared and I couldn't cope. It also left me when Luke turned to Kronos. I never loved Luke. When I was younger, I may have had a crush on him but he was the one who saved me. He brought me into this life. Yet I couldn't save him, even with all my knowledge." Annabeth stated. Percy brought her into a one-armed hug. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Piper smiling. Sometimes her Aphrodite side really showed.

"What happened to Luke wasn't your fault, it wasn't anyone's fault. He cared for you Annabeth. Even at the end when Kronos was taking over, his care for you overpowered him and it was what saved everyone." Percy comforted her. Annabeth stayed silent for a while. Eventually she nodded, her face filled with a determined expression.

"I guess it's my go." Jason said next.

"I never loved Reyna. I may have thought I did, but I was stupid and I didn't even know what love was. I guess I just wanted to belong somewhere. You see, deep down I've always been jealous of you Percy. You've always belonged, you have a family, a camp that loves you, people who look up to you. My mum went mad and she's now dead. Thalia thought I was dead and is now in the Hunters, so I don't see her as much as I would like to. I was supposedly praetor of camp Jupiter, but even now I don't belong there. I guess what I'm saying is, I want a home. A proper one." Jason said quietly. Everyone was shocked at his secret insecurity. No one had ever seen the vulnerable side of Jason, everyone just knew him as a strong leader.

"You know camp Jupiter don't hate you. Whenever I'm there, there's always someone talking about you." Frank reassured. Jason just nodded weakly.

"Jason, you shouldn't feel like that. I know that whenever I'm with you, I feel safe and like I'm at home." Piper smiled holding his hand.

"Someone get me a bucket." Leo joked, the majority of the room gave him daggers. "Sorry, picking moments has never been my strong point."

"You don't say." Nico smirked.

"Boys concentrate, I guess I'm going next." Piper said.

"This is going to sound awful, but I guess I've always resented my dad in some ways. I hate to admit it but he annoys me. He never appreciates our heritage and I'm the only one he tells Cherokee tales to. Apart from that though, I feel like he's slightly ashamed of his heritage. I feel like it's important to embrace who you are and where you come from, but it's hard when your own father is ashamed. I've always tried to be myself, that's the only way I'm happy, but he's only ever been someone else. Sometimes I just wish he'd retire and leave behind the Hollywood lifestyle he lives, maybe then he could spend more time with me. Maybe he could start acting more like himself." Piper sighed. It showed that even when people apparently lived the 'dream life', with a movie star dad, it didn't always mean they were happy.

"He loves you a lot Pipes." Jason said softly.

"Yeah, I know." Piper replied half-heartedly. Sometimes to believe things, it is better to be told them by the person you want to hear it from.

"Anyway I think it's my turn." Frank spoke up. "This is going to sound weird, especially seeing as it's coming from me, but sometimes I hate where I come from. I mean my Dad's the fricking God of War. Uh please don't get angry at me Dad, but I hate killings things. It makes me feel unclean and like I have an essence of evil inside of me. Yet, both my parents, even my ancestors, were all soldiers of some sort. I hate wars, I resent them. War took my mother away from me. Sometimes I wish I didn't come from such a war obsessed family. Sometimes I wish that my Mum hadn't gone off to fight, maybe then she'd still be with me. Maybe then I could lead a normalish life." Frank stated. His confidence grew the more he got into it.

"Frank your mum may have still been alive but it wouldn't have gotten you out of the prophecy." Annabeth said gently.

"You're not evil. Don't you ever think that! Frank Zhang you are the kindest, most gentlest person I know. Don't you dare think for a minute that you're some bloodthirsty, emotionless warrior because you are not. You are perfect and I love you." Hazel said angrily. Frank looked shocked at her outburst, in fact everyone, including me was.

"You got told Frank." Leo laughed. Yet again the girls stared at him. "Yeah I know, wrong moment. If it makes it any better Frank, you aren't some bloodthirsty beast. You are more like a little panda."

"A panda? Really repair boy?" Frank moaned. For a split second I saw a flicker of pain flash across Leo's eyes, when he heard the nickname. However this pain was soon replaced with laughter.

"Yes a panda, my dear Frank." Leo laughed.

"Guys, are you going to do this every time someone says something." Jason moaned. Leo and Frank both apologised to everyone simultaneously.

"I think I'll go next. Frank, Leo, please don't take any of this in the wrong way." Hazel said nervously.

"The reason I may have liked Leo a little bit when I first saw him, was because he looked like Sammy. The reason I liked Sammy was because of his lack of seriousness and his sense of humour. They made me forget that my mum resented me and that I was the village freak. All because of my mum people hated me. All because of my mum I was given a curse I didn't ask for. All because of my mum, I died. I'm glad that I stopped my mother from going to the Fields of Punishment, but all those years I spent just hovering around, I longed for something more. I'm glad Nico found me, I'm glad I got a second chance. In my first life I didn't really feel like it was mine, but now I'm no longer controlled. I'm happy." Hazel smiled. I couldn't help but smile too. Percy briefly told me about her coming back from the dead, and it was nice to see someone happy after years of hardship. Frank smiled at her and squeezed her hand tightly.

"I think it's still a bit weird you fancied my _bisabuelo. _But it's great that you're happy and all." Leo said, desperately trying to save himself.

"Seeing as you have so much to say, why don't you go next Leo." Jason suggested.

"Fine, but can I just say that everyone's been diving pretty deep, might need to get out a snorkel soon. Except from you Percy, you're covered." He joked, Jason just glared at him.

"Jeez, tough crowd. Anyway where do I begin on the _trágica vida de Leo._" Leo said dramatically.

"Leo, in the nicest possible way, could you please get on with it." Piper moaned.

"Okay, okay, but I'm not comfortable with this and I don't really know where to begin." He said a little less confident.

"It's hard for everyone, but just think of Camp Jupiter. Start wherever feels right." Percy suggested. Leo nodded and took a moment to think. After a while he took a breath and began.

"I hate fire sometimes. I despise it. I didn't ask for this power and a lot of the time I don't want it. All it's ever brought me is pain. I mean what idiot thought they could give someone the gift of fire. Its can so easily destruct towns, cities, people. Everyday I'm scared that if I sneeze I'll kill someone. I've already lost control before. I killed my Mum. Please don't say it was Gaea's fault, because if I hadn't been so easily wound up she would still be alive. I hate myself every day for what I did to her. Every time I smell smoke it reminds me of what she suffocated on. I don't care that I spent most of my childhood running away. I don't care that my Aunt hated me. I don't care that I'm the seventh wheel, the repair boy everyone relies upon. I deserve to be an outsider, I deserve to be forgotten about or not cared about. Nothing I'm feeling could compare to the pain that I put my mum through." Leo said quietly. He looked down the whole time. Piper and Hazel had tears in their eyes and Jason, Frank, Percy and Annabeth were pale with shock. Nico didn't look overly surprised. I was pretty stunned. I'd just found out why there's such sadness in his brown eyes. Why he's shows flickers of hurt every so often. He covers his pain with humour. Leo looked up, his eyes were slightly shiny but after looking at everyone's reactions he tried to cover it up.

"I also love Miley Cyrus." He joked, trying to break the tension a little.

"Leo, why didn't you say something." Piper demanded.

"Pipes, honestly you don't need to worry about me. I'm okay. Can we just not talk about it now? Besides, I believe its Adriana's turn to confess." He replied, dropping me straight into it. I would have corrected him about calling me Adriana, but after what he just admitted, I didn't think it would be a good time.

"I, uh, I've uh never felt comfortable. Not really, except from when I'm around Phoebe, Annie or my mum. I hate being so socially awkward sometimes. I don't mean to and sometimes it can come across as rude, but I guess I find it hard to trust people. I guess it's down to a lot of things really. Friends who've turned on me, my mum's boyfriends who've been complete dicks to her and me. I hate it, I try to be me, but something always holds me back. I guess that started on a school trip a couple of years back. The school had been given funding so they decided to take us on a trip to Washington to see the White House and stuff. My mum was reluctant to let me go, but in the end agreed. Anyway I was sharing a room with three girls who I thought were my friends. During the third day, there was an incident. One of the girls told the most popular and bitchiest girls on the trip that I didn't like them. Anyway that group of girls confronted me, screamed abuse at me and turned nearly the whole school on me. Ever since then I haven't really had the same confidence. My mum got me through it though and now it's my fault that she's dead. If she hadn't always tried to protect me, maybe she'd still be alive. If I got home a little bit earlier, maybe it could have been me instead of her." I stammered. My eyes were watering just thinking about my mum and those memories, but I heavily blinked; refusing to let them fall.

"Ade, you can trust us. Believe me when I tell you that we've got your back. No one's going to turn on you like those girls did." Annabeth smiled. I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"What you just said got me thinking. Maybe your mum did something similar to what mine did. For years she dated smelly Gabe. I never knew why until I found out that it protected me. His scent masked my scent from monsters." Percy told me. It just made me feel worse. My mum was only putting up with those horrible men for me.

"That's actually quite a smart observation, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth smirked. Percy rolled his eyes back at her.

"Nico, I guess your next." Jason said carefully. He gave him a knowing look which I couldn't quite decipher.

"Jason, please." Nico stated fiercely. Everyone was shocked at Nico's reaction. He was naturally very secretive, but everyone was sure he'd co-operate.

"Come on Nico, people wouldn't judge you. It would be better if this came from you. If you won't tell them, I will." Jason replied, holding his ground.

"What's going on?" Hazel asked confused.

"That's for Nico to tell you." Jason continued to push.

"Jason you can't make me do this." Nico said weakly.

"Okay, but they need to know. Guys Nico's secret is.-"

"No Jason! Fine! I'll tell them." Nico spat angrily. I jumped a little, the guy could be pretty scary.

"I didn't choose any of this! I'm ashamed of how I feel, it's unacceptable. Bianca was the only one who understood me and she's dead. I looked up to you Percy, you were my favourite game, brought to life. So when you took my arm, looked me in the eyes and promised that you'd keep Bianca safe, I believed you. As you can imagine when you told me she was dead I felt angry, betrayed. But still, I couldn't let those skeleton warriors hurt you. I hated you Percy, but most of all I hated myself. I left camp because I couldn't be around you, or her. I was running from my powers and emotions. I didn't choose who I was, I don't choose how I feel. How I feel is unthinkable. I couldn't be around you and Annabeth because it hurt. Because, because, I loved you Percy." Nico's voice was like broken glass. As soon as he spoke the last sentence he ran out of the room, a few tears leaking out of his eyes. Percy looked shocked, in fact the whole table did, excusing Jason.

"I don't know about any of you, but I think that's the bravest thing I've ever seen." Jason stated.

"I-I, never knew. If he told me, we could have talked. Sorted things out. He felt that he had to leave camp because of me." Percy stammered.

"How did you know?" Piper asked Jason, everyone was secretly dying to know.

"When we went after Diocletian's sceptre, we bumped into Cupid. He forced Nico to confess, it was horrible. I felt everything he felt, is feeling. He's so ashamed, he hates himself so much. I told him that we'd all support him no matter what, but he wasn't ready to tell you guys." Jason informed us.

"You were right, we will support him no matter what." Annabeth spoke up.

"I think he needs to hear it himself." Jason advised.

"I'll go talk to him." Percy offered.

"It's probably best if it came from you." Jason nodded. Percy got up swiftly and left the room.

"Uh, if you don't mind, I have to go and check the engine. Wouldn't want us crashing." Leo excused himself getting up.

"Wait Leo, I thought we were going to talk." Piper said.

"Sorry Pipes, it'll have to wait." Leo replied quickly, before running out of the room.

"Maybe we should all just take some time." Annabeth advised, she too got up and left the room. Piper and Jason followed, holding hands, soon followed by Hazel and Frank. I just sat alone in the Mini Mess hall, unsure what to do. I wanted to talk to someone, anyone. Without even realising what I was doing, I got up and walked down to the Engine Room.


End file.
